Monday, June 29, 2009

CATERPILLARS Are Beautiful!

"Now he wasn't hungry any more — and he wasn't a little caterpillar any more. He was a big, fat caterpillar."--The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Last week, it really was all about the caterpillars! And talk about a HANDS-ON experience...

Heather's little green friends truly stole the show! Once she introduced them, there was no returning to "the originally scheduled program."

But that didn't matter, because instead what evolved was a sea of children gathered close, sharing in the experience of REAL LIVE CATERPILLARS! They watched them, pointed at them, touched them, even gently squeezed them a little (how can you not?!). A room full of wide eyes and anxious hands!

So although Heather never had a chance to read her book or share more information, everyone DID have a chance to witness first-hand just how beautiful and fascinating luna moth caterpillars are!

And what an interesting fact she shared that Eric Carle's caterpillar was actually modelled after the luna moth caterpillar!

It was fun learning and practicing with our bodies some of the differences between moths and butterflies that she taught us:

Moth antennae are fanned (open fingers), whereas butterfly antennae are clubbed (closed fists). When moths are resting, their wings are spread (arms out). Butterflies rest with their wings up and closed (elbows and hands together).

We learned a new song/fingerplay about caterpillars (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle):

Little Arabella Miller (hands cupped together)Found a wooly caterpillar. (open hands)First it crawled upon her mother. (crawl fingers up arm)Then upon her baby brother. (crawl up other arm)All said, "Arabella Miller! (point finger)Take away that caterpillar!!! (wave hands away)A huge thanks to Heather and her caterpillars from the Blue Bungalow for the memorable morning they gave us!

And a big thanks to Robyn Beckley Vining of Ticklebugs Photography for capturing this photo from our very special time together!